Unpopular Opinion: Nigerians in the diaspora ran away to watch Nigeria crumble. On the surface that many seem like the truth, but the Nigerians in the Diaspora did not want to leave Nigeria. I can unequivocally state that I love my Nigeria. I want that myth of Nigerians leaving because we loath Nigeria blasted to smithereens. We simply left because we grew, and Nigeria has somewhat regressed almost to what it was during the colonial times.
When we speak about Nigerians in the diaspora, it is easy enough to bunch us all together but categorically, there are two types of Nigerians in the Diaspora. The ones who were born in a foreign country such as the United Kingdom, the United States, or other countries. The second set of Nigerians that are in the diaspora are the ones migrated to whatever foreign country they find themselves in. No matter how they (the Nigerians in the diaspora) found themselves in the diaspora, the thought many of them envision is to move back home to Nigeria to help in the re-development of Nigeria with their newly acquired knowledge. However, due to how difficult it is to do business in Nigeria, many of them get stuck abroad and never make it back home to impart their acquired knowledge.
We the Nigerians in the diaspora are by no means proud. We want to come back desperately because we want to give back. Trust me when I say that we are by no means unpatriotic, and we are actually quite irked by the diaspora and want to move back home. But exactly what are we coming to? There is supposedly a diaspora affairs entity within the Nigerian federal government. No one has been able to articulate what their function is. What is their aim? What have they implemented to create brain gain or even temporarily brain circulation? Whether we choose to believe it or not, WE HAVE A BRAIN DRAIN IN NIGERIA. I love how Nigeria does this bit where they sweep things under the rug. Shebi out of sight is out of mind, abi? One day sha, the rug go swell up and the things we keep sweeping under the rug will blow up in our face. Let us put on our big girl and boy pata and eradicate the issues at hand.
According to the current Minister of Labour, Dr. Ngige, we have a surplus of brain and that is why Nigerians are migrating. This na lori iro nla o. Walahi! We do not have a surplus. Statistically, Dr. Ngige states that we are fine, and we do not have a brain drain issue. As stated earlier, Dr. Ngige purports that the reason doctors are leaving Nigeria is because they are a desired product that is surplus in Nigeria and that is why there is medical brain drain. However, according to the Nigerian Medical Association which is the body that documents the population of doctors in the country, there are only a little over 40,000 doctors in the whole country. These medical practitioners have the lofty job of caring for its over 200 million citizens. Currently, it is estimated that the physician penetration rate is 1.9 healthcare practitioners for every 1000 Nigerians, which is far less than what is recommended by World Health Organization (WHO).
The emergence of brain drain in Nigeria has hindered the development of various industries in Nigeria and especially the medical infrastructure to the standards of other comparable developing countries. Brain drain has also increased medical tourism in Nigeria, especially among the upper echelon of society.
What Nigeria does that I find fascinating is akin to when someone is ill, and the family denies it to kingdom come that the person is fine. When are we going to start changing the narrative and start telling ourselves the gospel truth? Again, I say it will all my chest that Nigeria is a great country with so much potential. We just need to embrace that we have a problem so that we as a nation can easily tackle those problems.
